Music Blogs

We recently told you that marrying or dating your band mate can end in personal disaster, even as it leads you to musical gold. That got us thinking about the news that recently bubbled up (OK, I’ll admit it, I was flying cross-country and picked up a stack of tabloid magazines) that Justin Timberlake is writing, producing, and singing backup vocals on the upcoming debut from his girlfriend, actress/model Jessica Biel.

Reportedly, the music sounds like a cross between “Alicia Keys and Madonna,” which seems like a stretch until you find out from a friend of the former model that music is actually her “first love.” Proof? She’s appeared in productions of Annie and The Sound Of Music. I’m not saying this collabo is going to ruin the Timber-biel union or the former *NSYNC hoofer’s golden reputation, but I’ve appeared in Annie and The Sound Of Music, and my wife won’t even let me sing in the car.

But hope springs eternal, so here’s a list of musical couples who not only made it work, but also made beautiful music together.

 

JOHNNY CASH & JUNE CARTER CASH

For 35 years the union of the Man in Black and June, a member of country music’s First Family, was one a shining example of a musical marriage that worked on every level. Yes, as we saw in Walk The Line, Johnny had his troubles, but when the two — who died within months of each other in 2003 — got together, their chemistry was undeniable.

 

 
FAITH HILL & TIM McGRAW

For contemporary country fans, Faith and Tim are the June and Johnny of the new millennium. The pin-up-worthy duo met on the aptly named Spontaneous Combustion tour in 1996 and married shortly after the outing ended. The pair has since continued to tour together and record such smash duets as “It’s Your Love” and “Let’s Make Love.” It’s all love for these two.

 



THE WHITE STRIPES

Yes, technically, Jack and Meg White are no longer together (just get over that whole brother/sister thing — it was a joke, OK?), but the oddball divorced Detroit duo have managed to rise above it and make some of the most electrifying rock ’n’ roll of the modern era. It just goes to show ya: love fades, but rock ’n’ roll is forever.

 

KURT COBAIN & COURTNEY LOVE

One could argue that this couple was arguably the most destructive, worst thing to happen to rock in the 1990s. The volatile grunge get-together didn’t result in any actual joint musical projects (unless you believe the urban myth that Cobain wrote some, or all, of Hole’s Live Through This album), but their scorched-earth rock ’n’ roll circus act is one for the ages.

 

JAY-Z & BEYONCE

While we’ve never gotten confirmation that this hip-hop soul couple’s officially married, what we do know is that they make beautifully funky music together. That’s what happens when you take one of the world’s most famous rappers and put the diva of the decade in his passenger seat.

 
SONIC YOUTH

Together almost as long as their band’s been making a joyfully cathartic noise, guitarist/singer Thurston Moore and bassist/singer Kim Gordon tied the knot in 1984 and are still rocking 20-plus years later. The most enduring couple of indie rock appears to have found a balance between creating messily abstract music together and keeping their home life from falling apart.

 


YOKO ONO & JOHN LENNON

Some might quibble about the “beautiful music” part in the case of the late Beatle and his avant art wife, but regardless of whether you consider Ono’s birdlike warbling over Lennon’s dulcet tones to be pleasant, these two released nearly a half-dozen albums together and served as mutual inspirations for such classic songs as “Give Peace A Chance,” “Instant Karma!,” “Woman,” and “Watching The Wheels.”

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